Monday, July 25, 2011

George Lynch - Kill All Control

George Lynch
Kill All Control
Rocket Science Inc.

Despite the low profile his releases may get these days, and the somewhat ill-advised direction some of those releases have taken at times, former Dokken guitarist George Lynch is at the very least a prolific survivor who refuses to live life in the past, or live off his former glories.
Following hot on the heels of his patchy orchestral/instrumental release ‘Orchestral Mayhem’ from last year, Lynch is back in more familiar territory with ‘Kill All Control’.
Originally envisioned as a follow-up to Souls Of We’s debut effort ‘Let The Truth Be Known’ (Which was released back in 2008), ‘Kill All Control’ eventually took on a completely different life after vocalist London LeGrand (Ex-Brides Of Destruction) was unable to commit to the project at the time, which meant that Lynch and his band (Run Run Run bassist Nic Speck and Powerman 5000 drummer Adrian Ost) decided to utilise the services of several vocalists, which was a similar approach Lynch adopted for his own debut effort ‘Sacred Groove’ in 1993.
Lynch opens up the album with the title track ‘Kill All Control’, which is a great hard rocking number featuring the combined vocal talents of BulletBoys front man Marq Torien and Earshot’s Will Martin. Musically, Lynch allows the vocalists plenty of space to put in some great performances, but still manages to add enough shredding moments to keep fans of guitarists more than pleased.
Both Torien and Martin team up again on the huge sounding ‘Fly On The Wall’, which is undoubtedly a definite stand out cut on the album, and finishing up their collaborative efforts on the fast paced ‘Sun’, which is another great cut, barring a sole out of range scream from Torien that would have best been left on the cutting room floor.
On the solo front, Martin adds an obvious modern edge to tracks such as ‘Done’, the moody ‘Brand New Day’ and the Alice In Chains like ‘Voices In My Head’, so much so that it’s hard to recognise Lynch anywhere on the tracks outside the solos, even if they do stand out in their own right.
Although unable to commit to the entire album, LeGrand did manage to make his mark on the album with the impressive semi-acoustic based ‘Wicked Witch’ and the up-tempo rocker ‘Go It Alone’. But if there’s one track where LeGrand really makes his own, it’s ‘My Own Enemy’. Both lyrically and musically darker than what you would normally expect, ‘My Own Enemy’ boasts a killer performance from both, and is undoubtedly the album’s highlight.
Rounding out the vocal tracks on the album are three tracks fronted by Montrose/Burning Rain vocalist Keith St. John (Namely the stunning ‘Resurrect Your Soul’, ‘Rattlesnake’ and ‘Man On Fire’), all of which are more in line with the classic Lynch Mob sound with their huge melodic choruses, hard rock sound and Lynch’s ever present guitar work.
Finishing up the album is Lynch himself with ‘Son Of Scary’ – an official sequel of sorts to his trademark infamous instrumental classic ‘Mr. Scary’, which originally appeared on Dokken’s ‘Back For The Attack’ album from 1988. As expected, the song doesn’t stray too far from the original in terms of its overall theme and feel, but is different enough to distance itself from the original to be considered something new.
Lynch has always been his own worst enemy in musical terms, with almost all of his albums showcasing Lynch’s willingness to try his hand at a whole new genre. At times, the results are less than impressive, and more often than not leave diehard fans confused.
But with ‘Kill All Control’, Lynch has managed to put together a fairly consistent effort, and a release that will appeal to fans who have been hanging out for Lynch to just rock out, without trying too hard to fit in with the ever changing ‘in sound’ of today’s hard rock scene.